The container terminal at the Port of Tauranga. File pic Photo: Supplied / Port of Tauranga
The country's biggest port increased its profit and revenue as it handled more containers and had a return of cruise ships, offsetting a fall in key export traffic.
Key numbers for the 6 months ended December 2022, compared with a year ago:
- Net profit $62.7m vs $56.3m
- Revenue $211.9m vs $186m
- Cargo (tonnes) 12.7m vs 13.0m
- Profit forecast $117m to $124m
- Interim dividend 6.8 cents a share vs 6.5 cps
The diversity of the port's trade and rising container traffic including trans-shipments allowed it to post a near 14 percent rise in revenue, but costs grew on higher transport and labour costs.
Chief executive Leonard Sampson said it continued to be hit with disruptions and ships turning up off schedule, which had caused vessel bunching and congestion at its container terminal.
He said New Zealand ports have agreed to bring back berthing timetabling, disrupted by Covid-19 problems.
"By reinstating adherence to pro forma windows, we will be able to accurately predict container volumes and match resources accordingly. This will allow us to deliver improved efficiency and avoid delays for shipping lines and shippers."
Overall cargo volumes were down 3.5 percent, with dairy, logs, and kiwifruit all falling, while import volumes edged nearly 1 percent lower, but there had been a significant lift in the number of containers being trans-shipped through the port for other local ports.
However, the port welcomed back its first cruise ship visits in more than two years, with 100 vessels scheduled to call this season.
Sampson said the Ruakura inland port in Waikato would help ease storage pressures as well as attract more cargo.
An Environmental Court hearing into a new container berth starts next week, and Sampson was confident it would be approved and work could start on it as a key expansion of facilities to cope with growth in container traffic.
He said, more broadly, New Zealand needed to improve the resilience of its transport infrastructure which had been exposed by recent weather events and the pandemic.
